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The QC, Vol. 94, No. 16 • February 21, 2008

2008_02_21_001

ie Voice of Whittier College Since 1914
Quaker Campus
Thursday, February 21, 2007
Issue 16-Volume 94
WWW.QUAKERCAMPUS.ORG
NIL) campus shooting
Less than a year after the Virginia Tech massacre,
Whittier examines its own preperation for an emergency
Yasmin Khorram
and Josh Wood
QC News Co-Editors
Campuses around the nation
were jolted once again after 27-
year-old Steven Kazmierczak, a
graduate student at the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
opened fire in a crowded lecture hall
at his alma mater, Northern Illinois
University. Shortly after 3 p.m. on
Thursday, Feb. 14, Kazmierczak
used a handgun to shoot 21 students
and one faculty member, leaving
five students dead before taking
his own life.
The incident, which happened
less than a year after the massacre at Virginia Tech, served as a
reminder to the Whittier College
community that tragedy can occur
under any circumstance. "Schools
and colleges are perceived as places
where there shouldn't be violence,
a place where students should be
free to study and live in relative
safety." Dean of Students Jeanne
Ortiz said. "And even though the
number of incidences is quite small.
it exceeds what we as a society think
is acceptable, which is zero."
In the case of a campus emergency, Whittier has several protocols set in place. JYNGLE, which
was initially a text message alert
system, has been recently altered
to an automated voice message
notification system. The change
occurred due to the fact that not
all students' phones are capable
of receiving text messages. A test
of this automated system occurred
on Feb. 4 when 1,150 students
were called.
"From any computer on campus, I can record my voice and send
a message out to each student within
three minutes," Chief of Campus
Safety Bernard Alex said. "The call
will go out to every number within
the system." However, Campus
Safety still does not have record
of many students' phone numbers.
"With every new semester, students
enroll and students leave, so it's
difficult to keep track of the current
population," Alex said.
A speaker system that has been
installed on the exterior of Ward-
man Gym will have the capability
of alerting the campus in the event
of an emergency. "During our
preliminary practice we didn't get
the sound we wanted so we're still
working on that," Alex said. This
broadcast, when fully operational,
will be heard from any location on
campus.
Although violence on campus
may be unpredictable, it is important for students, staff and faculty
members to be prepared. "It may
not be possible to eliminate all
violence, but institutions can
educate students on signs of stress
and educate them as to what they
should do if they see other students
distressed," Ortiz said.
Small institutions rely on members of the community to ensure a
safe environment. "In a community
setting, we all have to take responsibility for our own safety," Ortiz
said. "It's a fine line; people have
to assess for themselves between
normal banter and when it reaches
a point that makes you or someone
GRAPHIC BY JADE HERNANDEZ
see SHOOTING, page 5
An alum opened fire, injuring 21 students and killing five on
Thursday, Feb. 14 at the Northern Illinois University campus.
Film Studies Minor beginning Fall 2008
PHOTO BY THOMAS ELLIOTT / QC CAMPUS LIFE ASST. EDITOR
Video Production Club Co-President junior Shezad Bruce films senior Sam Bremen forthe club's
upcoming film Velociraptor. Film minors will be able to work with equipment provided by VPC.
Yasmin Khorram
QC News Co-Editor
Forthe students who have hopes
of one day joining the film industry,
Whittier College is finally taking
them one step closer to their dreams
with the addition of the Film Studies
Minor. Beginning this fall, Director
of Media Center Richard Cheatham
and newly hired Asst. Professor of
Theater and Communication Arts
John Bak will be breaking ground
along with other professors.
For several years, student interest and demand in this program has
escalated, prompting the school to
begin arranging for this minor to
be made available. Cheatham first
noticed that numerous film classes
were already offered at Whittier College. "Film is accessible politically,
sociologically, aesthetically andcul-
turally," Cheatham said. "We wanted
to bring together these courses into
an interdisciplinary minor. We
needed to give them some shape of
accountability."
This minor will require 18 cred
its of core courses and electives.
Although the minor will not heavily
emphasize the production aspect of
film, students will be expected to
enroll in courses which stress film
history, cross-cultural perspective,
criticism and theory and production. Since the majority of suitable
classes are currently offered, only
a handful will need to be added
this fall.
"Some people will be very interested after taking a few classes,"
Cheatham said. "They will have
electives they can take to further
their knowledge since wedon'toffer
a major." This spring Cheatham will
be speaking with each of the professors who are currently teaching film
classes to ensure they expect similar
outcomes from their lectures which
will be integrated into the minor.
"With John Bak coming on board,
our offerings have been broadened,"
Cheatham said.
"We had to get a lot of people to
approve of it," Cheatham said. "It is
see FILM, page 5
SASHA
Up-close with Barny Peake's bird
Campus Life, Page 10
BASKETBALL
The men beat Redlands 74-70
Sports, Page 16

ie Voice of Whittier College Since 1914
Quaker Campus
Thursday, February 21, 2007
Issue 16-Volume 94
WWW.QUAKERCAMPUS.ORG
NIL) campus shooting
Less than a year after the Virginia Tech massacre,
Whittier examines its own preperation for an emergency
Yasmin Khorram
and Josh Wood
QC News Co-Editors
Campuses around the nation
were jolted once again after 27-
year-old Steven Kazmierczak, a
graduate student at the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
opened fire in a crowded lecture hall
at his alma mater, Northern Illinois
University. Shortly after 3 p.m. on
Thursday, Feb. 14, Kazmierczak
used a handgun to shoot 21 students
and one faculty member, leaving
five students dead before taking
his own life.
The incident, which happened
less than a year after the massacre at Virginia Tech, served as a
reminder to the Whittier College
community that tragedy can occur
under any circumstance. "Schools
and colleges are perceived as places
where there shouldn't be violence,
a place where students should be
free to study and live in relative
safety." Dean of Students Jeanne
Ortiz said. "And even though the
number of incidences is quite small.
it exceeds what we as a society think
is acceptable, which is zero."
In the case of a campus emergency, Whittier has several protocols set in place. JYNGLE, which
was initially a text message alert
system, has been recently altered
to an automated voice message
notification system. The change
occurred due to the fact that not
all students' phones are capable
of receiving text messages. A test
of this automated system occurred
on Feb. 4 when 1,150 students
were called.
"From any computer on campus, I can record my voice and send
a message out to each student within
three minutes," Chief of Campus
Safety Bernard Alex said. "The call
will go out to every number within
the system." However, Campus
Safety still does not have record
of many students' phone numbers.
"With every new semester, students
enroll and students leave, so it's
difficult to keep track of the current
population," Alex said.
A speaker system that has been
installed on the exterior of Ward-
man Gym will have the capability
of alerting the campus in the event
of an emergency. "During our
preliminary practice we didn't get
the sound we wanted so we're still
working on that," Alex said. This
broadcast, when fully operational,
will be heard from any location on
campus.
Although violence on campus
may be unpredictable, it is important for students, staff and faculty
members to be prepared. "It may
not be possible to eliminate all
violence, but institutions can
educate students on signs of stress
and educate them as to what they
should do if they see other students
distressed," Ortiz said.
Small institutions rely on members of the community to ensure a
safe environment. "In a community
setting, we all have to take responsibility for our own safety," Ortiz
said. "It's a fine line; people have
to assess for themselves between
normal banter and when it reaches
a point that makes you or someone
GRAPHIC BY JADE HERNANDEZ
see SHOOTING, page 5
An alum opened fire, injuring 21 students and killing five on
Thursday, Feb. 14 at the Northern Illinois University campus.
Film Studies Minor beginning Fall 2008
PHOTO BY THOMAS ELLIOTT / QC CAMPUS LIFE ASST. EDITOR
Video Production Club Co-President junior Shezad Bruce films senior Sam Bremen forthe club's
upcoming film Velociraptor. Film minors will be able to work with equipment provided by VPC.
Yasmin Khorram
QC News Co-Editor
Forthe students who have hopes
of one day joining the film industry,
Whittier College is finally taking
them one step closer to their dreams
with the addition of the Film Studies
Minor. Beginning this fall, Director
of Media Center Richard Cheatham
and newly hired Asst. Professor of
Theater and Communication Arts
John Bak will be breaking ground
along with other professors.
For several years, student interest and demand in this program has
escalated, prompting the school to
begin arranging for this minor to
be made available. Cheatham first
noticed that numerous film classes
were already offered at Whittier College. "Film is accessible politically,
sociologically, aesthetically andcul-
turally," Cheatham said. "We wanted
to bring together these courses into
an interdisciplinary minor. We
needed to give them some shape of
accountability."
This minor will require 18 cred
its of core courses and electives.
Although the minor will not heavily
emphasize the production aspect of
film, students will be expected to
enroll in courses which stress film
history, cross-cultural perspective,
criticism and theory and production. Since the majority of suitable
classes are currently offered, only
a handful will need to be added
this fall.
"Some people will be very interested after taking a few classes,"
Cheatham said. "They will have
electives they can take to further
their knowledge since wedon'toffer
a major." This spring Cheatham will
be speaking with each of the professors who are currently teaching film
classes to ensure they expect similar
outcomes from their lectures which
will be integrated into the minor.
"With John Bak coming on board,
our offerings have been broadened,"
Cheatham said.
"We had to get a lot of people to
approve of it," Cheatham said. "It is
see FILM, page 5
SASHA
Up-close with Barny Peake's bird
Campus Life, Page 10
BASKETBALL
The men beat Redlands 74-70
Sports, Page 16